Experts from Australia, the United States, and Pakistan at a policy dialogue held at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) emphasized the integration of agricultural heritage .

FAISALABAD May 26 :Experts from Australia, the United States, and Pakistan at a policy dialogue held at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) emphasized the integration of agricultural heritage systems, indigenous knowledge, and local practices into modern agricultural policies to strengthen food security and climate resilience. The dialogue, titled “Reviving Heritage Systems for Pakistan’s Food Security and Resilience,” was organized. The session was moderated by Prof. Dr. M. Asif Kamran, Director of the Agriculture Policy, Law and Governance Centre (APLGC), UAF, with support from the Punjab Higher Education Commission's R&D cluster on Public Policy and Economic Development with Beaconhouse National University (BNU) as cluster lead and Baha Uddin Zakariya University (BZU), University of Punjab, University of Management & Technology, and University of Agriculture Faisalabad as partnes. The panel featured Dr. Muhammad Ejaz Qureshi from the Australian National University, Prof. Kulwinder Gill from Washington State University, and local experts Prof. Dr. Asghar Ali, Prof. Dr. Abdul Ghafoor, and Prof. Dr. Azeem Iqbal Khan from UAF. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Qureshi shared Australia’s experience of incorporating Indigenous knowledge into policymaking and environmental management. He highlighted practices such as cultural burning for land management along with Indigenous approaches in biosecurity and border management systems, emphasizing the importance of integrating traditional ecological knowledge into contemporary governance frameworks. Prof. Kulwinder Gill emphasized that heritage farming systems serve as living gene banks and stressed the need for universities and research institutions to conserve indigenous germplasm through participatory plant breeding and community seed banks linked with research centers. He noted that traditional crop varieties offer valuable traits related to heat tolerance, drought resistance, salinity adaptation, and pest resistance under changing climate conditions. He further stressed the careful integration of traditional Indigenous knowledge into modern agricultural systems through strong scientific evidence and research-based approaches. Prof. Asghar Ali said agricultural progress should not be measured solely through productivity and profitability indicators, but should also incorporate resilience, sustainability, and agricultural heritage systems. Prof. Abdul Ghafoor highlighted the importance of value addition, quality improvement, and marketing in promoting traditional diets and indigenous food systems. Prof. Azeem Iqbal Khan emphasized the preservation of domestic landraces and traditional cultivars as important genetic resources for climate resilience and future agricultural development. Prof. Dr. M. Asif Kamran highlighted the significance of the dialogue and acknowledged the support Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC), for providing a platform for such a unique academic and policy engagement initiative through R&D clusters. He emphasized generation of more knowledge about vast diversity of Agriculture Heritage Systems in Pakistan to facilitate evidence based policies and documentation of the traditional knowledge to leverage on this knowledge to resolve complex challenges of climate change and malnutrition. The dialogue concluded with a commitment to develop policy recommendations for provincial and federal departments and to strengthen collaboration among researchers, farmers, and policymakers for the preservation and revitalization of agricultural heritage systems for sustainable and resilient food security system in the country